Editor:

In light of the “facts” presented by Trevor Kidd (‘”Terrorist’ group no longer a threat to national security,” Jan. 28), I would like to respond.

Hezbollah (Party of God) was founded in Lebanon by Islamic fanatics and fundamentalists in the beginning of the 80s.

I don’t quite see why it was stated that Hezbollah in no way poses a threat to America when the American foreign ministry states that the Hezbollah is responsible for the deaths of more than 300 American citizens.

Although it has stopped its actions against Americans, if one takes time to study its rhetoric the truth comes out – Israel is referred to as the ‘Little Satan’ and America as the ‘Big Satan,’ the mother of all corruption and decadence.

True, Hezbollah has mainly targeted Israeli targets in Lebanon during our duration there. If Islamic terrorists, based on the border between the U.S. and Canada, started bombarding the U.S. tomorrow and Canada did nothing, what would you do? However, Hezbollah does not limit itself to these actions alone.

As far as the great “reform” it underwent in the early 1990s, it is nothing but a façade.

Hezbollah continues to engage in terrorism and continues diversifying into more and more areas, both national and international.

It blew up the Israeli embassy in Argentina in 1992 and recently kidnapped and killed three Israeli soldiers from the Israeli side of the border and abducted an Israeli citizen.

All four were returned on Jan. 29, 2004, in exchange for hundreds of prisoners after a long time during which its leaders abused and tormented the families with falsified reports of their conditions.

As if that isn’t enough, in recent years Hezbollah has systematically trained and armed Palestinian terrorists and desperately tried to recruit Israeli Arabs into its ranks.

I also fail to see the “transformation” of Hezbollah into a

political party. Since the day it was formed, the group has had a political agenda devoted to wiping out the Zionist entity.

The true colors of Hezbollah were illustrated when, upon the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, hundreds of rockets were deployed on the Lebanese side of the border, posing an immediate threat to northern Israel. The group is constantly provoking us and from time to time

fire at us.

Finally, it would be both irresponsible and unwise, however, to talk about Hezbollah without talking about the real people who pull the strings of this organization – the Syrians and more so the Iranians.

Hezbollah believes in Jihad, and as a religious, fanatic, fundamentalist group, it cannot accept anything other than the annihilation of Israel.

In conclusion, Hezbollah is and will continue to be a threat to democracies such as the United States and Israel. Just because it has suspended actions today doesn’t mean the actions won’t resume tomorrow.

Elie Raymond

Israeli citizeN